Sunday, January 09, 2005

the admirable adaptation

Well. Who'da thunk it? The Lemony Snicketfilm is actually very good indeed. It's quite dark, as are the books, but not in a gloomy Tim Burton way.. there's humour in there and the casting is by and large spot on. The three orphans are fortunately played by American children so they can actually act without causing the audience to involuntarily flinch and squirm. It's the perfect role for Carrey and, due to various strong disguises, you could almost forget it's him.

It's a go see, although what you'd make of it if you hadn't read the books I don't know. Alley enjoyed it and she's ten. I was concerned that the dark nature of the film might leave her feeling down, so I cheered her up afterwards by pointing out the 'kids who hang around cinemas all day' and promising her that in only a few years time she'll be able to smoke fags and freebase cider with mates just like them. Cheered her up no end. She nearly dropped her Ben and Jerry's.